More than 7,000 Minority Business Owners and Purchasing Executives Expected to Attend

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) will host its annual Conference and Business Opportunity Fair at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, October 28-31. Considered the nation's benchmark forum on minority supplier development, the four-day event will highlight successful supplier relationships between NMSDC corporate members and minority business enterprises (MBEs), as well as strong MBE-to-MBE partnerships.

More than 7,000 attendees are expected to participate in the event, including Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American business owners, as well as Fortune 500 chief executive officers, corporate minority supplier development professionals, purchasing executives and decision-makers, and representatives from international NMSDC counterpart organizations. The Rocky Mountain Minority Supplier Development Council, one of NMSDC's 36 regional councils, will co-host the conference.

"Minority businesses are key drivers of economic growth in the United States," said NMSDC President Joset B. Wright. "This event will allow us to provide a blueprint for MBEs looking to replicate their domestic success on a global scale. Denver—with its vibrant business community—will provide a dynamic backdrop for networking and relationship-building between our corporate members and minority suppliers from Colorado and across the country."

"Minority Businesses and Corporate America: Advancing Minority Suppliers in the Global Supply Chain" is the theme for this year's conference. The event schedule begins on Monday, October 29, with a one-day Business Opportunity Fair—the largest national procurement event of its kind. The fair will feature more than 750 corporate and minority business exhibit booths. A Leadership Development Series with concurrent sessions for minority business owners, buying organizations/supplier diversity professionals and NMSDC regional council presidents will be held on Tuesday, October 30. Twenty content-rich workshops and plenary sessions led by chief executive officers from the nation's leading corporations and top minority businesses; corporate procurement professionals; subject matter experts on minority supplier development; and government officials highlight the conference schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday, October 31.

The conference culminates on Wednesday evening with an Awards Banquet to honor the Corporation of the Year, Suppliers of the Year, Minority Supplier Development Leader of the Year and NMSDC Council of the Year.

As an added educational benefit of attending the conference, supplier diversity and supply management professionals will have the opportunity to take the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) exam for its professional designation—Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity® (CPSD™)—in Denver on Thursday, November 1. NMSDC worked collaboratively with ISM to develop the curriculum for the designation and has arranged for members of either organization to take the exam.

Online registration for the 2012 NMSDC Conference and Business Opportunity Fair is available through Friday, October 5, at www.nmsdconline.com. For additional information on the event or minority business development, call the NMSDC at (212) 944-2430 or visit the Web site at www.nmsdc.org.

The National Minority Supplier Development Council advances business opportunities for certified Asian, Black, Hispanic and Native American business enterprises and connects them to corporate members. One of the country's leading corporate membership organizations, NMSDC was chartered in 1972 to provide increased procurement and business opportunities for minority businesses of all sizes.

The NMSDC Network includes a National Office in New York and 36 Regional Councils across the country. There are 3,500 corporate members throughout the network, including most of America's largest publicly-owned, privately-owned and foreign-owned companies, as well as universities, hospitals and other buying institutions. The Regional Councils certify and match more than 16,000 minority-owned businesses with member corporations that want to purchase their products and services.